Norwegian Waffles

Vafler

Forget about the extremely sweet Belgian waffle, or the syrup-drenched waffles found throughout America. Norwegian waffles (vafler) are not too sweet, nor are they too thick. They are light, with just a hint of sweetness, and are pliable enough to be folded and eaten with one’s own hands.

Waffles in Norway are always made in iconic heart-shaped irons. I challenge anyone to find a round American style waffle in Norway. The unique shape lends itself perfectly towards tearing off individual hearts from each waffle.

Norwegians top their vafler with a wide variety of toppings. Sweet toppings are the most popular, but you will find savory variations. In parts of northern Norway, they are famous for topping waffles with sliced hard-boiled eggs with kaviar squeezed on top. Kaviar is a smoked cod roe paste. By far the most popular toppings are the traditional rømme (sour cream), strawberry or raspberry preserves, or brunost. Brunost is a dairy product made by boiling down the whey from either cow or goat milk until it caramelizes.

Personally, I much prefer the mixture of sour cream and strawberry preserves. The fresh tartness of the sour cream blends perfectly with the sweetness of the strawberries. The subtle vanilla and cardamom flavors contained in the waffle form the perfect medium for this combination.

In order to make Norwegian waffles, you will need a specialized heart-shaped waffle iron. You can purchase these from Amazon or from a variety of other webstores. Most modern waffle irons are electric. I am not a huge fan of electric irons, because they take up a lot of cabinet room for a single-purpose appliance. I, personally, use a vintage EVA stove-top waffle iron I purchased second-hand from Ebay. They do not make these anymore, but their quality is second to none. They feature a tough non-stick coating, that ensures your waffle slides out easily when finished. If you can find one of these, I highly recommend getting it.

A vintage EVA waffle iron. I got this beauty from eBay.

When making vafler, the trick is to have a relatively thin batter. The batter should be just a little bit thicker than a glass of eggnog. Also, avoid overworking the batter. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together just enough to mix everything together and get rid of any large lumps of flour. It is alright if there are still some small streaks of flour that have not been fully incorporated.

The batter also needs some time to swell before dolloping it into the iron. 15 minutes is a good minimum, but ideally, the batter should be left, covered, in the refrigerator over night. Many say this results in a tastier waffle. If you decide to refrigerate the batter, make sure you do this before adding in the melted butter. The melted butter should be added just prior to putting it in the iron.

This is the consistency you are looking for in your batter.

The following recipe is a modified version of the verdens beste vafler from the Copenhagen location of the Norwegian Sjømannskirken. These waffles have previously been voted as the best waffles in the World. I modified the recipe by doubling the amount of vanilla sugar, and also by doubling the amount of cardamom. Other variations may include substituting the baking soda out for baker’s ammonia, known as hornsalt in Norwegian, or substituting the buttermilk for kefir. There are thousands of vafler recipes in Norway. Each family seems to make them slightly differently. By experimenting, you too will come up with a recipe that can be passed down for generations.

I did not put enough batter in the iron for this top waffle.

So when should you take the waffle out of the iron? Each iron is different, but with my EVA stovetop iron, I usually cook each waffle for about 1 and a half minutes on each side at medium-low heat. I find that this consistently results in a waffle that is nicely colored, yet still soft and pliable. Norwegian waffles are not crispy like their American counterparts. They are soft and pliable. If you cook the waffle for too long, it will break apart at the seams as you are taking it out of the iron. This is fine for some desserts, but it won’t yield the best results for the purposes of this post.

When it’s ready, the waffle should look like this in color.

If you want your waffles to stay nice and warm as you’re cooking the others, place a wire rack onto a cookie sheet and place it into the oven. Heat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. When each waffle comes out of the iron, place it onto the wire rack until ready to serve.

Vafler go best with a pot of coffee and friends.

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Norwegian Waffles (Vaffler)

Yield: 4

Author: Robert Schumacher

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 15 MinInactive time: 15 MinTotal time: 45 Min

A staple of Norwegian coffee breaks, these waffles pair perfectly with sour cream and strawberry preserves.

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 deciliter (scant 1/2 cup) sugar
• 2 deciliters (scant 1 cup) buttermilk
• 1 1/2 deciliters (scant 3/4 cup) 1% milk
• 1 deciliter (scant 1/2 cup) water
• 350 grams (2 cups + 3 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 125 grams (~1 stick) unsalted butter

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, start by whisking the eggs and sugar together.
2. Next, whisk in the buttermilk, milk, and water to the mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla sugar together. Sieve the mixed dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until the batter is relatively free of any clumps. Be careful to not overwork the batter.
4. Let the batter mixture rest on the counter for approximately 15 minutes so that it begins to swell. For the absolute best flavor, consider covering the mixing bowl with saran wrap and refrigerating overnight.
5. While the batter is resting, pre-heat the waffle iron according to the instructions for your particular iron.
6. Just before you are ready to start cooking the waffles, stir the melted butter into the waffles.
7. Spoon a small amount (approximately 1/4 cup on my iron) of the batter into the middle of the waffle iron.
8. Cook according to the instructions on your particular iron.
9. Serve with sour cream and preserves or butter and Norwegian brunost.

Notes

• I strongly recommend purchasing a set of measuring cups that include deciliters or milliliters on it. Unfortunately, deciliters just do not match up that well with standard American measurements.
• For some added richness, use whole milk instead of 1% milk.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

731.48

Fat

30.72 g

Sat. Fat

18.13 g

Carbs

98.86 g

Fiber

2.5 g

Net carbs

96.36 g

Sugar

31.59 g

Protein

15.38 g

Sodium

352.23 mg

Cholesterol

167.57 mg

All nutritional information is estimated and will depend on the exact ingredients you use.

https://www.nordophile.com/recipes/norwegian-waffles

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